Page 20 of Euphoria

“You come into the Road Reapers once in a while, don’t you?” he asked.

“I have been there a few times. I used to go in there all the time before I had to spend a few months in California,” sheadmitted. He shivered at the thought of his time spent in that state. He really never felt as though he fit in while he lived there.

“I take it that you’re not a fan of California,” she said.

“Not really,” he said. “I lived there for a few years back about fifteen years ago. My parents got divorced when I was sixteen, and I moved out there with my dad. When I realized that I just couldn’t take any more of it out there, I decided to move back here and live with my mom. I guess I liked it here since I’m still sticking around.” When he stopped talking, she kind of stared at him and he tried to figure out why. Maybe he was talking too much, or oversharing, but for some reason, he found her easy to talk to. Hell, he didn’t even know her name yet, but here he was telling the poor woman his sad life story.

“Um, sorry, I’ve been told that I talk too much,” he said.

“No, it’s no problem,” she said. “I was just wondering why you are here?”

“Oh yeah,” he said, “you did ask that when I walked in here, didn’t you?” She nodded her head and pasted on her best smile, but he wasn’t sure if it was genuine or not.

“I’m here for a tat from Ink. My name is Spade.” He was hoping that introducing himself might lead to her sharing her name, but when she turned around and walked to the back room again, he was sure that he had blown any chance that he might have with the woman.

“Hey, man,” Ink said. He crossed the room and shook Spade’s hand, pulling him in for one of those awkward side hugs. “I’m sorry, I was feeding Bethany in my office. Charlie needed to run a few errands, and I told her that I’d take the baby for the afternoon.”

“Oh, if you need to reschedule, I’d understand,” Spade said.

“That’s not necessary,” Ink assured. “Cynthia said that she could keep an eye on Bethany for me while I finish up your tattoo. Plus, the baby will probably sleep the entire time you’rehere. She’s a good napper, just like her mom.” Spade noted that her name was Cynthia, and he had to admit that he didn’t peg her as a Cynthia. She had tats up and down her arms, and he was sure that she even had some under her clothes, not that it helped with his unruly dick to think about Cynthia naked.

“So, does she work for you?” Spade asked.

“Don’t say that too loudly,” Ink insisted, “Cynthia will kill you. It’s more like she works with me, not for me.”

“So, she’s an artist too?” Spade asked.

“Yep,” Ink said. “Why?”

“No reason, I was just wondering if maybe she could do my next tattoo,” Spade said.

Ink chuckled, “Oh, if I had a dollar for every time one of the guys from the Road Reapers came in and asked for Cynthia, I’d be a very rich man.”

“I hear that you already are a rich man, so how about if we skip the dollar and you properly introduce me to your pretty new artist?” Spade asked.

“I thought that I heard you two talking when you came in,” Ink said.

“Yeah, but I fucked it all up,” Spade insisted, “I had diarrhea of the mouth, and I can’t even remember what I rambled on about. I do that sometimes when I’m nervous—you know, ramble.”

Ink smiled and slapped Spade on the shoulder. “I hadn’t noticed man,” he said with a laugh.

“Don’t be an ass, Ink,” he insisted. “Just introduce me to the pretty girl and then, I’ll let you do my tat.”

“How gracious of you,” Ink drawled. “Hey, Cynthia, can you come out here for a second?” She came out from the back of the shop, holding Ink’s baby, and damn if Spade didn’t feel tongue-tied again.

“Yeah, what can I do for you, Ink? You know, besides change your daughter’s very stinky diaper,” Cynthia asked. Ink chuckled and crossed the room to take the baby from her. “How about you prep Spade for his tattoo, and I’ll change Bethany’s stinky diaper?” She looked at Ink as though he had lost his ever-loving mind, but when she nodded her agreement, Spade let out a breath that he didn’t know he had been holding.

“Great,” Ink said, “Spade, this is Cynthia,” he said, introducing the two of them. “My work is done here. Now if you will both excuse me, I have a date with a princess.” He smiled down at his daughter and disappeared into the back room, talking some kind of baby gibberish that only a new parent could understand.

Cynthia walked to the front of the shop, where her station was set up, and pointed to the chair. “Sit,” she ordered. She didn’t seem at all happy about having to do this for Ink and suddenly, Spade felt like an ass for asking him to get Cynthia to do his tat.

“Um, sorry that you have to do this,” he said. “If you want me to wait for Ink, I don’t mind.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not what I overheard you telling Ink,” she said. “I mean, you did ask him to get me to do your tat, right?” she asked. Shit, he wasn’t the quietest person, but he didn’t think that he was loud enough for Cynthia to hear him talking to Ink about her.

“You heard that?” he asked, suddenly feeling very unsure of himself and quite nervous.

“Yeah, I heard that,” she grumbled. “So, what are we doing today?” she asked, seeming to shift from angry to professional mode.

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